Essex County offered $4 million for nursing home

March 8, 2012

ELIZABETHTOWN - Essex County has received three bids, each for $4 million, for its Horace Nye Nursing Home.

Officials unsealed bids Thursday morning in Elizabethtown, according to county Manager Dan Palmer. The bids all came from New York state: Gerald J. Woods, CPA, in Baldwin in Nassau County; Eliot Management Group of Monsey in Rockland County; and the Centers for Specialty Care in the Bronx.

The county hired Chicago-based real estate investment firm Marcus & Millichap last year to market the county-owned facility nationwide. Officials with the firm said the nursing home generated a lot of interest.

Palmer said the Horace Nye Task Force will meet at 1 p.m. Monday to discuss the bids.

"And then it's up to the committee to recommend something, and if we get down to a final decision, it will go to the board for approval," he said.

Supervisors like Roby Politi, I-North Elba, want to sell the home because it runs at an annual loss of about $3 million. Politi told the Enterprise he was thrilled to learn that several parties bid on it.

"From a real estate perspective, the business that I'm in, I will tell you that it is always a good sign when you have three offers on the same property," he said. "I think that this will probably come as a surprise to a lot of our board members and others who didn't think that there would be interest.

"But I've always felt that there would be, and this does not come as any surprise to me, given what I know about the nursing home sector."

Politi, who chairs the Horace Nye Task Force, said the committee will review the bids and decide what direction it wants to go.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Randy Douglas, D-Jay, said he, like Politi, is not surprised the county received the bids.

"There's a lot of evaluation that has to go into this," he said. "The board will do its homework. If the board does indeed decide to sell, we will research the legitimacy of these three groups and go from there."

Moriah town Supervisor Tom Scozzafava has been a vocal opponent of privatizing the nursing home. He said he'll do his own research into the three parties that placed bids.

"There will be a thorough investigation and background check on each of them," Scozzafava said.

Palmer said because the county issued a request for proposals, the county has the right to negotiate with the three parties.

Marcus and Millichap has met its requirement to deliver potential buyers at the listing price, Palmer said. They will receive a commission of about $138,000 regardless of whether supervisors decide to sell.

Under the terms of the potential sale, the buyer would have to retain current employees and residents.